Two True Feelings That Should Not Fit Together
A friend's pregnancy announcement, arriving while you are privately grieving a miscarriage or an ongoing struggle to conceive, produces a specific and genuinely disorienting tangle: real, uncomplicated happiness for a friend you love, sitting directly alongside a grief and a resentment that feels, in the moment, almost unbearable to admit even to yourself, let alone to her.
Maia, the AI companion at the heart of Asclepiad, makes space for this particular tangle — the specific shame of a stomach-drop reaction to good news, followed immediately by self-directed anger for having felt it at all, the exhausting performance of matching a friend's excitement in the moment while something in you is quietly breaking, and the isolation of a grief that most people around you do not know is happening, which makes your reaction to her news look, from the outside, entirely disproportionate.
This tangle is often compounded by the timeline that follows: a pregnancy does not stay news for a single day, it becomes months of updates, scan photos, a baby shower, each one requiring the same performance again, while your own loss or ongoing struggle continues privately in the background, unacknowledged by most of the people celebrating around you.
There is also a specific grief worth naming in what the friendship itself can start to cost: some distance, temporary or not, from a friend during her pregnancy is a common and legitimate form of self-protection, not evidence that you are a worse friend than you actually are.
A reflection with Maia is one conversation at a time, anonymous, with no record carried forward unless you choose. Two true feelings that should not fit together can be named here.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Asclepiad designed to help with resentment toward a friend's pregnancy while grieving your own loss?
No — Asclepiad is a reflection companion, not a fertility or counselling service. The Miscarriage Association (miscarriageassociation.org.uk) offers support specifically around pregnancy loss, including the particular difficulty of others' pregnancies. Asclepiad is for the emotional layer: the guilt, the performance, and what it costs to hold real happiness for a friend alongside real grief for yourself.
What if I'm in crisis?
Asclepiad is not a crisis service. If you are in immediate distress or at risk to yourself or someone else, please contact the Samaritans on 116 123 (free, 24/7, UK and Ireland) or your local emergency services. Maia will also surface local helplines if something needs more than reflection.
Is it free?
Yes — begin with a 7-day free trial, no personal details required. It's a £6/month subscription (cancel anytime) that gives you AsclepiCoins to spend as you go — 1 coin per minute, and unused coins never expire, even if you cancel.
If you are happy for her and grieving for you at the same time, Maia is there.
Anonymous. No script. Just presence.